We’ve All Been Using This Popular Skin Care Tool the Wrong Way

The hype around stone rollers is undeniable—as is the way
they instantly cool skin and seem to tighten a slack complexion over time—but we
may have been using them wrong all along. Whether your roller is crowned with
jade, rose quartz or amethyst, there’s a rhyme and reason to using them.

Like anything that rolls, common sense tells us to glide the
rollers up and down the face, but that could be doing some harm in the
long-term. The proper way to use them: “Always up and out,” says Anna Lam, founder of GingerChi, a
natural skin care brand that offers multiple types of rollers, like this Rose Quartz Chi Roller ($39). “Think of it as pulling your skin ‘up’; you never want
to drag skin down.”

Celebrity aesthetician Nerida Joy agrees, adding that all types
of massage pressure we put on our faces should be upward and/or outward, ensuring we are going
against, not with, our gravity pull. “The only exception to the rule is when
you’re rolling on the sides of your face by the ears. Here, movements should be
down the length of the neck to drain the lymph,” she says.

The result: a stimulated lymphatic system, relaxed facial muscles that tense up throughout the day and amped-up efficacy of your favorite skin care products.